Art Brussels

Sunday 26 April 
1 – 1:50 PM at the Tribune 

Presentation of fragments from the documentary film about Daan Gielis directed by Oliver Rynders in conversation with Koen Leemans (KETELEER GALLERY).

In the summer of 2022, director Oliver Rynders began filming his neighbour and close friend, artist Daan Gielis (34). At the time, Daan was working on a major solo exhibition. But suddenly, his health began to deteriorate rapidly. The director explains how the documentary HAPPY SAD evolved from an intimate look into Daan’s creative process into the story of his courageous fight for survival.  Koen Leemans, Director of Keteleer Gallery, discusses how the tension between creation and transience is also a recurring theme throughout Daan’s oeuvre. During the talk, excerpts from the film will be shown. 

Since January 2023, Koen Leemans has been Director of Keteleer Gallery in Antwerp, which represents Daan Gielis’s body of work. He previously worked as a curator at De Garage and spent over 24 years as Director of Cultuurcentrum Mechelen. In this capacity, Koen curated the first major exhibitions that introduced Daan’s work to a wide audience. 

Oliver Rynders works as a showrunner for television programmes such as ‘Restaurant Misverstand’ (The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes), which in 2024 received an International Emmy Award for Non-fiction Entertainment in New York. HAPPY SAD is his debut as a documentary filmmaker and serves as a tribute to his neighbour and friend Daan Gielis. The original film score is produced by David Poltrock. VRT CANVAS is co-producer.